The Movements and Habits of Climbing PlantsDarwin, Charles
Science
The Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants
Darwin, Charles
Climbing plants; Geotropism; Plants; Plants -- Irritability and movements
In this latter case, whilst the
tendril was slowly and quite insensibly crawling onwards, I observed
several times through a lens that the whole surface was not in close
contact with the stick; and I can understand the onward progress only by
supposing that the movement is slightly undulatory or vermicular, and
that the tip alternately straightens itself a little and then again curls
inwards. It thus drags itself onwards by an insensibly slow, alternate
movement, which may be compared to that of a strong man suspended by the
ends of his fingers to a horizontal pole, who works his fingers onwards
until he can grasp the pole with the palm of his hand. However this may
be, the fact is certain that a tendril which has caught a round stick
with its extreme point, can work itself onwards until it has passed twice
or even thrice round the stick, and has permanently grasped it.
_Hanburya Mexicana_.—The young internodes and tendrils of this anomalous
member of the family, revolve in the same manner and at about the same
rate as those of the _Echinocystis_. The stem does not twine, but can
ascend an upright stick by the aid of its tendrils. The concave tip of
the tendril is very sensitive; after it had become rapidly coiled into a
ring owing to a single touch, it straightened itself in 50 m. The
tendril, when in full action, stands vertically up, with the projecting
extremity of the young stem thrown a little on one side, so as to be out
of the way; but the tendril bears on the inner side, near its base, a
short rigid branch, which projects out at right angles like a spur, with
the terminal half bowed a little downwards. Hence, as the main vertical
branch revolves, the spur, from its position and rigidity, cannot pass
over the extremity of the shoot, in the same curious manner as do the
three branches of the tendril of the _Echinocystis_, namely, by
stiffening themselves at the proper point. The spur is therefore pressed
laterally against the young stem in one part of the revolving course, and
thus the sweep of the lower part of the main branch is much restricted.
A nice case of co-adaptation here comes into play: in all the other
tendrils observed by me, the several branches become sensitive at the
same period: had this been the case with the _Hanburya_, the inwardly
directed, spur-like branch, from being pressed, during the revolving
movement, against the projecting end of the shoot, would infallibly have
seized it in a useless or injurious manner. But the main branch of the
tendril, after revolving for a time in a vertical position, spontaneously
bends downwards; and in doing so, raises the spur-like branch, which
itself also curves upwards; so that by these combined movements it rises
above the projecting end of the shoot, and can now move freely without
touching the shoot; and now it first becomes sensitive.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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